WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel, who's currently the Ohio treasurer, would have voted against the $2.1 trillion debt-ceiling legislation that will get President Barack Obama's signature later today.

Mandel, a Republican, favored an approach called Cut, Cap and Balance -- which could not pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Ohio Democrats say Mandel's position was extreme and would have caused the federal government to default on its obligations to creditors and citizens. Yet Mandel's vote today, had he had one, would have been consistent with 26 sitting senators who also voted no: 19 Republicans, six Democrats and Vermont independent Bernie Sanders.

Generally speaking, the Republicans in Mandel's camp don't believe the bill cut spending deeply enough. The Democrats voting no, however, say that the cuts will hurt programs for the poor. Sanders, like some Democrats, says the bill wasted a chance to remove Bush-era tax cuts for high-earners.

An easy majority of 74 senators voted for the measure. The bipartisan majority included Ohio's Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican.

Issuing a statement in response to our question of how he would have voted were he in the Senate today, Mandel focused on Brown, whom he will oppose in next year's general election if he wins the GOP primary. After he raised an extraordinary $2.3 million in his first quarter of the race, Mandel is considered a favorite of the Republican Party.

"Sherrod Brown has spent the past four decades trying to get taxpayers to bail him out of crisis after financial crisis that he helped create," Mandel said. "Enough is enough!

"Sherrod Brown had every opportunity to embrace a reasonable compromise called Cut, Cap and Balance that would have allowed a debt ceiling increase in exchange for spending cuts and a Balanced Budget Amendment. By killing an up-or-down vote on Cut, Cap and Balance, Sherrod Brown once again told taxpayers that he will do everything he can to protect the tax-and-spend culture in Washington. I would have voted against the debt deal and in favor of the Cut, Cap and Balance plan which includes the important requirement of a balanced budget."

Responding to Mandel's comments on how he would have voted, Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Justin Barasky noted some of the parties who supported the bipartisan bill -- Brown, Portman, House Speaker John Boehner, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"Unfortunately Josh Mandel took the extreme Tea-Party position that the United States should go into default and put the nearly 2 million Ohioans who rely on Social Security and Medicare at risk of receiving no benefits," Barasky said. "Mandel's admission shows a stunning lack of interest in Ohio's economy, middle-class, and seniors."

Asked about his opposition to the bill that Portman supported, Mandel got back to us and noted that Portman had first supported the Cut, Cap and Balance plan. Had it passed, it would have required spending cuts and support for a balanced budget amendment before allowing more government borrowing. That plan's failure in the Senate indirectly led to today's vote -- "indirectly" because it was already dead the second it hit the Senate, where the vote was entirely symbolic. Democrats said the cuts in Cut, Cap and Balance would have been draconian and could harm the economy when it needs more gas, not less.

Mandel, it goes without saying, disagrees.

"Unlike Senator Portman who voted with Ohioans by supporting the Cut, Cap and Balance plan and Balanced Budget Amendment that I also support, Sherrod Brown actually killed an up-or-down vote on forcing the federal government to balance its budget just like Ohio families have to do every month," Mandel said. "Sherrod Brown wants to raise taxes on families and job creators and the National Taxpayers Union gives him an embarrassing 3% rating because he is so out of touch with mainstream Ohioans."

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.